Police in Hong Kong have arrested a 13-year-old girl for allegedly possessing "space oil" after a video of her smoking the banned substance on a train went viral on social media.
The city administration in February banned the recreational substance "space oil" and its key ingredient, an anaesthetic called etomidate, amid a rise in popularity of the drug among teenagers. “Space oil", which has a relatively crude manufacturing process, is often inhaled through e-cigarette cartridges for an instant high.
In the purported video the girl can be seen seated on a light rail train and appearing to smoke an e-cigarette. After leaving the carriage, the girl held onto the railing on the Tin Shui Wai station platform to keep her balance.
The police said they received a report at around 7.15pm (local time) on Thursday and shortly after arrested the teenager from the Tin Shui shopping centre. She was arrested on possession of "dangerous drugs" after law enforcement authorities discovered a vape and a suspected space oil pod on her, Hong Kong Free Press reported.
The girl had reportedly bought the substance online just a day before the incident.
According to the Central Registry of Drug Abuse, "space oil" drugs were the third most commonly abused substance among people under the age of 21. About 25 per cent of cases sent to hospitals last year after suspected space oil users were minors, the report found.
The government last week said the number of drug users aged 21 and younger rose by 8 per cent in 2024.
Chief Superintendent Nelson NG Kwok-cheung of the Narcotics Bureau, in an interview with Eastweek, said the substance is mixed with various flavours and then injected into e-cigarettes to attract young individuals. Each cartridge is sold for between HK$100(£9.9) and HK$800(£79.6), he added.
Hong Kong police on Tuesday announced they have arrested a 16-year-old boy on suspicion of producing and trafficking the substance worth HK$200,000 (£19,917) following a raid on a hotel room.
Police seized 510mm of etomidate, 2.3 litres of glycerine, and 466 e-cigarette capsules suspected to contain space oil, South China Morning Post reported.
“Investigations show that the suspect allegedly mixed etomidate with glycerine to produce space oil and then injected the mixture into e-cigarette capsules,” the police said.
“A preliminary estimate shows that the seized etomidate and glycerine can produce over 600 e-cigarette capsules with space oil."
Police last week arrested a girl and a boy, both aged 16, along with an 18-year-old man on suspicion of outraging public decency after a video of them appearing to have sex in the car park of a public housing estate allegedly under the influence of "space oil".
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